Improved self-adjusting and embossing telegraphic machine



E. "F. BARNES.

Telegraph. No. 20,982. Patented July 27, 1858.

l l'inesses 4 aka v IRE noams versus :20, woYo-LI-ma. wAswmc-wouxo. c.

llNiTnn drains n. n. BARNES, or BROOKLYN, New YORK.

lMPROVEDSELF-ADJU STING AND EMBOSSING TELEGRAPHIC MACHINE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 20,9fi2, dated July 27, 1855.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDMUND F. BARNES, of the city of Brooklyn, county of Kings, and State of New York, have invented-and applied to use certain new and useful improvements in telegraphic apparatus for transmitting and recording messages at a distance, and which,

from its operation, may be designated as the Self-Ad j ustin g Embossing'lelegraph and I do hereby declarethat the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same and of its operation, reference being had to the accom pan ying drawings, and tothe letters'of reference marked thereon, and making apart .of this specification. 1

The nature and character of my invention consists in the arrangement and production of a telegraphic machine or instrument that is easily and readily adaptable to the purposes of telegraphing and producing printed letters or symbols, and which, from its simplicity and constructionand. the ease and certainty of its operation, can be used under disadvantageous circumstances, and when other instruments are comparatively inoperative, and which, from its feature of selfadjustment, renders its action almost wholly perfect and free from mistakes.

Figure 1 is a front perspective view'ot' the machine, some portions being broken away in part tojinore clearly exhibit the parts behind. Fig. Zyis'a perspective view from behind. Fig.

3 is a representation of the gearing of the sev-' eral parts. Fig. 4 is a detached view of the swing-frame. Fig; 5'is a view of the pedestal and the fly or power wheel. v

The key-board A is semicircular in shape, and the keys a a passing through it are .ar-

ranged, as to theletters marked upon them-,in

the order in which such letters occur oftenest in telegraphic language. Such keys are also each fitted with a spiral spring, .1, so that as soon as any. pressure is removed from them they will rise to their natural position.

Underneath the key board A'is a swing- .frame, B, hung on points or pivots 2 2, under the back side of the key-board, and which is pressed down, as each key is. touched, by a shoulder of the key striking against it. To this swing-frame. is also connected, throughdhe crossbar 3-and bars 31 32, Fig. 4, and arm 0, a

forked bar, I), which extends under the clutchwheel 9 for the uses hereinafter mentioned.

(J- is a hollow shaft, to which is attached the circuit-breaker arm 61, which is of such a length that in, revolving the end ofit will come in contact with any key which may bedepressed and be arrested. To this hollow shaft is also fixed the clutch f, and within such shaftO is a shaft, e, which bears the movable or sliding clutch-wheel g'. As a key a is depressed it presses against the swing-frame B and forces it downward and through the parts 3 31 32, and arm 0 causes the forked rod b, which moves on its center 4., to move the-clutch-wheel g'upward on the shaft exand into gear with the clutch-f. As the clutch-wheel g is on the inner shaft, (2, to which is attached the gearwheel 1, Fig. this shaft revolves without carrying the hollow shaft 0 and the parts connccted thereto, so long as the clutch-wheel g and clutch f are not in contact; but whenever ever a key is touched and the wheel 9 thrown into contact with f the hollow shaft 0 is caused to revolve, carrying with it the the circuitbreaker arm d,- and such arm by means of the click h, working'into the ratchet-wheel 5, carries the circuit-breaker wheel D, to which the wheel 5is fastened. When the finger is lifted from the key the spiral spring 1 lifts it up from- .otf the swing-frame, and the spring 6 throws up such swing-frame, and the clutch-wheel g is released from gear with the elutchf, and the shaft G ceases to revolve, and the arm d is drawn to its original position or starting-point bythe action of the spring and cord 70, which 1).in such a manncrthat upon its being revolved the hammer l is alternately connected with and disconnected from the anvil i, which is on the insulated stool The end of the anvil i presses against a helical spring in the stool E, which allows the anvil-to yield alittle to the contact of the hammer, but is stiff enough to insure a perfect contact between the hammer and anvil. main circuit is alternately brokenand closed,

awire extending I used, or from the main line and connecting with the anvil i. N ow, if-the main wire be ex- '-tended to any distant point and there connected with another of the telegraphic instrument's,the main circuit will be connected when By this arrangement therom the mutator, when raised or depressed, as desired;

the resident magnet G on are brought in when they are the hammerl and the anvil 41 contact, and be discontinued separated.

G is a resident magnet, the metallic cores m of which, within the coils, are composed of soft iron, with one or more straight-bar permanent magnets introduced into each leg of it and extending the length of the cores. The object of such permanent magnets is to keep at all times the atoms of the soft iron in a polarized-condition, the poles of the small permanent magnets being so arranged as to produce north and south poles in the resident magnet, as it is found that without such arrangement there is considerable time lost in the charging and discharging the ordinary electro-magnet, and that by its use a much greater number of vibrations can be obtained in a given time. is an armature over the resident magnet, which armature is composed or made up of several thin plates of soft iron, alternating with plates of brass or other non-conductor of magnetism, the greatest width of such plates being perpendicular with the length of the legs of the elec tro-magnet, and their number being sufiicient to make the proper width of the armature.

J is a lever attached to the armature H, and suspended by points 7 8. An adjustingscrew, k, above, and another, k,beneath, regulate the distance through which such armature may move. Y

L is an adjustable spring to cause the reverse motion or action of the armature H when the circuit is-broken and the armature release( from the attractive force of the residentmagnet.

M is a screw by which the slide N, through which the spring L passes, may be moved to and fro, to vary the length of the working part of the spring. There is also a similar screw, 9,'underneath the slide N, by which it may be At the other end of the lever J is a small hardened-steel nipple, a, which comes alternately in contact with the teeth of and arrests the cscapement-wheel O as the lever J is caused to vibrate by the attractive action of the armature H and the action of the spring L when the armature H is released from the attraction of the magnet. The escapement-wheel O is made by cutting two wheels with such a 'number of teeth on each as shall be equal to one-half the number of letters or characters used, and then fastening one of these wheels upon the other in such a manner that the teeth of one shall be equidistant between the teeth of the other, thus allowing the escapement-wheel O to re- .volv? step by step, at each vibration of the lever v 1 is adetent cog-wheel having on it a number of teeth equal to the number of. all the teeth of the escapcment-wheel O; and such wheel? is so arranged as to moveup and down on a square shaft, Q, by the action of the forked bar 0 supported by the stud It is the type-wheel, having on it a number H; loose and free to revolve on the of letters corresponding with the number of teeth of the escapement-wheel O, on the un der side of which type-whcelisa pin, (seen between letters E andl,) which actsas a clutch to the detent-wheel P-bypassing between any two of the teeth of such wheel when it is thrown up to the under surface of the typewheel by means of the forked bar 0, but is withdrawn when by the action of the same bar, the wheel '1? ,is thrown downward, at which time, should the type-wheel have been carried forward any distance whatever, the action of the spring and cord S, which winds around the barrel of the type-wheel, will draw such typewheel back until a pin, 10, strikes against the stop 1', when it will be at rest. This is accomplished by the type-wheel being type-wheel shaft T, except when the pin underneath such wheel passes between the teeth of the de-. tent wheel P, as before described.

U is a ratchet-wheel, having on it a number of teeth equal to those on theescapcmentwheel 0. On shaft V is an arm, 8, one end of which rests upon one of the teeth of the ratchetwheel U, and which is carried forward at every movement of such wheel U.

W is a detent fixed to the shaft V, and par taking of every movement of 'such'shaft. On

shaft X is an arm, 15, which rests against the detent W at to until the ratchet-wheel U acts upon the arm 3 and partially revolves the shaft V and detent W, when the arm t will be released from the point or end a and move to and rest against the other end, a, of such dctent W until the arm 8 shall have again fallen to the bottom of one of the teeth of the wheel U, when the arm it will be released from the end a of the detent W, and make a revolution till it again rests against such detent at a. On shaft X is also a cam, 20, from which extends a rod, 2, which acts upon the bar Y, Fig. 1, to move forward the imprinting-press against the type wheellt, such press and rod being forced back by the action of the band a, against which such press acts, revolved sufficiently far to allow the end of the rod 2 tdxfall from ofi' it at a: as, Fig. 2. On the samesht ftX are also the paper-propelling eccentric y and the type-wheel-releasing plane I). From the paper-propelling eccentric y, a rod, 0', attached by a strap about such eccentric y, extends to one of the paper-rollers Z,

i which it causes to revolve a given distance at every revolution of the shaft X by means of the click (1 working into the ratchet-wheel e on such vpaper-roller. Such rod c and supported by a step and pins-,f. I

Z Z are paper rollers or guides to draw and guide the paper as it passes between the press 00 and type-wheel LR, and such rollers are held together for such purpose by means of the-springs Z l. The forked rod or bar 0 extends from the type-wheel-releasing plane 6' ,to and takes hold of the detent cog-wheel P, forcing such wheel down at every revolution when the cam 10 has is guided I up and down in the arms 1 works a friction-plate, 1 springs n, which are confined bynuts n. Be tweenthe friction-plate or; and thewh'eeI is apieceof common leather, o, to lessen the fric tioh. Asthe circuit-breaker arm-d drops 1 baek'to its proper'place 0'- ;starting-point a ratcl1et-wheel 5 tance forward.

of the shaft X, and again forcing it up when the arm t shall have passed so far around as to allow the end I of such rod 0 to drop from off the type-wheel-relcasing plane I), such bar 0 being forced up by the spring 11. The type-wheel stop r arrests the type-wheel at each return, and is hung on a hinge, It, so that when the pin 10 on the type-wheel shall have made a complete revolution it forces such stop outwardly till'the type-wheel commences to return, when the spring it forces the stop 4" back to its proper position to arrest the type wheel.

A A is the principal bed-plate-to sustain the receiving portions of the instrument, and B B are posts to support the plate which reoeix'es the upper journals of the two shafts T and V and of the paper-rollers.

U is the main power-shaft, driven by the foot, as shown ing on .it four cog-wheels todrive respectively the wheels on the type-wheel shaft T, the shaft V, and the shaft X, and alsothe wheel I on the circuit-breaker shaft 0. 1

The cog-wheels on all the shafts except the power-shaft, C are loose and free to. revolve on such shafts, having friction-plates above and below them fast to the shafts, so as to keep such .wheels' in position. I On the power-shaft Gall the wheels thereon are fast except the wheel 1 which iscaused to revolve by the friction-plate and box 1, and which wheel 1 carries or moves the wheel 1. The wheel. 1

is connected with the clutch-wheel g by means I of the cross-bar m, having at each end a pin, 12, 'which passesinto corresponding sockets in the arms of-the wheel 1.

' of the wheel '1, so as to allow of themovemcnt of the clutch-wheel g, as above described.

, Any arrangement of friction-plates to keep the wheels in-. position, and allow them to re- .volve upon their-shafts may made use of. "The: '-one in us'e'is substantially as follows: I ashaft, as 0, Fig. 3, is fixed a nut, o, thelt'op ofwhich is dishing, and in which sets the part tan-piec s, on the-click h,i;,thatdips into the below the fcircuitbreaker, comes in contact with an inclined plane, a, which raises the point ot'the click from out of the teeth of such ratchet-wheel, and prevents it from again dipping into such ratchet-wheel until the arm (1 has been carried a short dis- The' object of this is to prevent the clutch f, by its sudden action when thrown into gear with the ratchet-wheel g, from throwing the arm at forward in improper ti me, and thus jumping over' any letter.

and their speed is in Fig. 5, or, as desired, hav

Zof the ratchet-wheel U keep 8, and prevent it from falling to the bottom of Such pins 12 move -an'd-durin g the typewheelrel forked barIor'l'ro I wheel l?-aiidmeleasinglthe'type wheel, which About To the top ofsuchwheel is fixeda fr1etion-box,l, inwhic'hf 0'0, pressed down by as before mentioned, that they may all be revolvin g while the shafts remain stationary,

so arranged that the circuit-breaker wheel revolves more rapidly than the wheel on shaft V. Supposing the wheels in motion, the general operation is as follows: When any key a is depressed the swingframe acts upon the arm 0 and forked bar I), by which the clutch-wheel g is' thrown upward and takes hold of the clutch fon the hollow shaft 0, by means'of which the circuit-breaker arm (I and the circuit-breaker wheel D is revolved, alternately breaking and olosin g the circuit t-h rough the hammer l and anvil 2 causing the lever j to vibrate, and allowing the shaft with the escapement-wheel 0 to move forward step by step, carrying with it the typewheel R and ratchet-wheel U, until such time as; the'circuitbreaker arm (1 shall reach the depressed key, when such arm (I will be arrested and the vibrations cease. At the first vibration the ratchet wheel U forces or carries arm 8, moving with it-the detent W, and allowing the arm t to pass from the point u of such detent to the pointo, at which pointosuch arm 1. would rest until such vibrations cease, because the speed of the circuit-breaker wheelD being faster than that ot' theshaft V, theteeth meeting the arm the teeth of U. As soon, however, as the arm 01 meets a depressed key, and the vibrations ,cease, and the type-wheel shaft stands at rest,

the arm 8 is carried to-the bottom of the tooth on theratchet-wheel U, which revolves a little the shaft V and detent W, and releases the arm t from the point e, and the shaft X is re volved, imprinting the letter by the action of 7 rod "2, which work the pressm and immediately after.theletter'is so printed, 17 revolutioniof the shaft X, the

the cam 20 and I sing- ';fplane (tr acts upon the do,"depressinglth'e dete'nt cog is drawn back 'tjo-its proper position orstart ,ingpoint by the s ringaand cord S. At the same'time, and during such; revolution of the fs haft X, the paper-propelling through the. rods o and click d, acting on the ratchet-wheelieon' the paper-roller Z, propels the paper far enough for the impressionof the nextletter, and as soon as the finger is taken from the key the-clutch f is released from the clutch-wheel g, and the spring and cordk draw the circuit-breaker arm at to its original starting-point. By thus causing the circuitibreaker arm (1 and the type-wheel R to retreat to the same starting-point at the printing of each letter the machiner"or instrument is selfadjusting, and that immediately after every letter is imprinted, and as this is done while theshaft X is revolving and the paper is being moved,-no time is lost.. The shafts T and Xrevolve in the direction indicated by forward the eccen trio 1 escapement O.

the arrow onthe wheel U; but the shaft V revalves in the opposite direction, thereby causing the arm s to fall to the bottom of the teeth of U the moment such wheel is arrested. The

. spring within the insulated stool E, and against which the anvil i presses, should be sufliciently firm to cause a severe enough contact between the hammer and such anvil to overcome the effect of any oxidation that maybe produced on their surfaces. The gearing to move the several parts is constructed in the ordinary manner,'except as above mentioned and described, and may be worked by means of the foot on a treadle, asshown in. Fig. 5, or may he moved by clock-work, or in any other man.

nor, as convenient or desired.

In order to give the type-wheel shaft T and the type-wheel. on it the necessary ,promptness and quickness of action wlieneverthe vibration of the lever J releases the teeth of the escapement-wheel 0, there is attached to the typew heel, shaft a box, 1, Fig. .3, containing a coiled spring, one'end of which is faste'nedto such box, and t-he other end fastened to the shaft. Abovethis is a friction-box, s, and itsfriction-plate, theparticular arrangement of which is not more fully described here, as

it is the invention of others, for which a separate application for a patent is to be made. The spring inthe box r is set up two or more turns, or as much as'may be required to secure thedesired prompt action to the shaft T, and is kept or held at-such tension. Whenever the machine and gearing are set-in motion the friction-plate, and the pressure of the spring 8" thereon, is snificient to rotate the .spring box 1", and consequently-wind up the spring therein toa certain point-usually halfa turn-when it is arrested by the steel pinto in the shaft T- meeting the projection Y, after which thefriction-plate and the pinion w revolveabout the shaft T. The moment the vibration of the lever J releases a tooth ot the escapement O the spring will act upon and move the shaft T instantaneously, and the type-wheel is turned to the proper letter by the rotation of such shaft, and according to the pulsations given at the This spring or an equivalent device is required, because of the great rapid- 'ity of the {vibrations and the need of corresponding promptaction of the type-wheel shaft toprevent errors in imprinting. I am aware that a coiled spring has been used in'a telegraph-machine (Houses) to give action to 'a shaft; but it was not set up to and held at a given point, nor did the friction wind such spring only to a certain extent, but the friction "alone set up or wound such spring, and to as great an extent as such friction would effect it; and,of course, when the machine was stopped the spring would entirely-unwind. .By setting up the spring to a given degree and there'holde ing it, and then allowing the friction 'to wind suchspring only a certain extent in addition, the spr ng has given it and always retains, the",

imprinting cam, triqand the typewheel-releasing plane are all necessaryteusion for the uses and purposes required;

The letters on the type-wheel are-arranged in the order in which they occur oftenestin language used in telegraphing, wherebyan average of afraction less than seven vibrations are required to reach each letter, instead of an necessary to discharge them, is overcome, since the compound in agnet will vibrate with several times the rapidity of the ordinary electromagnet with the softiron armature. For use of the instrument in the local circuit, and not in immediate connection with the main circuits, there is not, however, so much of a necessity of inserting the permanent magnets in the cores of the eleetro-magnet, as it is found by careful and repeated experiment that the formation, as above described, of the armature of alternate plates of conducting and non-conducting metals tends'to insure a much more rapid vibration than could be obtained if the armature was entirely of soft iron, as a small mass or body ofmetal ismueh sooner magnetized than a larger mass and such construction of armature causes the entire number of iron plates to be magnetized as quickly as if there was but a single plate, or nearly so, because each plate is separate from each other conducting one. When, however, the instrument is to be used with the main circuits it will be ad- 7 visable to have the permanent magnets inserted in the cores of theieleetro-magnet, as described. The use of such compound magnet also enables a much greater length of line to be operated than can be by "the use of any other magnet, as it unites great sensitiveness with greater t'orce than can be obtained from the simple clectro-magnet.

In any printing telegraph instrument inwhich the eircuit brcaker and the type-wheel are not self-adjusting the two are often getting into different relative positions upon any two instruments, whenoperations must cease until they are adjusted together, which adjustment is almost absolutely necessary before the sending of any message; whereas by my invention these parts are self-adjusting, and are therefore always in the same relative position aftertheeompletio'n of every letter, and the opera-- tor has but to keephis magnet in adjustment,

the other parts being self -regulating. The the paper-propelling eccen firmly attached to each other, thus rendering it impossible that they should get into different relative positions. The arrangement of the circuit-breaker is also such that the circuit is closed by'a direct contact instead of a- -rolling or scraping contact, so'that far greater certainty of vibration is secured and attained, and the whole instrument is 'so thoroughly adapted to its purpose in its mechanical construction and arrangement that the liability to disarran'gement is very slight while at the same time it is far simpler of operation than any characterinstrument'which depends upon the muscular action of the hand to form the characters.

I do notclaim, generally, the use of the power of electricity or magnetismfor telegraphing messages at a distance and recording them, eitherin printed letters or characters, northe general arrangement of the wires, posts, or electric circuit or circuits, as these are old and wellknown; but

What Ispecifically claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The use and application of the combined permanent and electro magnets in the resident magnet, substantially as and for the purposes set forth and described. I v 2. The arrangement of the springs k and S or their equivalent, in connection with the cir cuit-breaker shaft 0 and type-wheel shaft T, by which the circuit-breaker arm d and type-wheel are caused to return to a given starting-point after the com pletion of .each letter, thereby causing the instrument to be kept'constantly self-regulated.

F 3. The use and arrangement or combination of the circuit-breaker wheel D with its undulated periphery, and. the hammer l and anvil i, placed and arranged, substantially as de-- scribed, so that the revolution of the wheel D shall alternately connect and disconnect such hammer andanvil, and also connected with the main battery and line, for the purpose of closing and breaking the main telegraphic circuit, substantiallyas set forth and described.

4. The arrangement, substantially as described, of the hollow shaft G and clutch f and arm at, and the connection therewith, substantially as set forth, of the spring-frame B, by

which the 'clutch wheel g is made to takehold of such clutch f on.the hollow shaft 0 to carry forward such. shaft 0 and the circuit-breaker,

, and the arm dwhenever any key is depressed,

substantially as set forth. 7

5. The arrangement and combination of the vibrating-lever j and its nipple n with the es eapement-wheel O, constructed as described, to cause the type-wheel shaft to revolve, step by step, at every vibration of such lever, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

6. The'useand arrangement of the spring L with its adjusting-slide and adjusting-screws,

substantially as set forth and described, for the purpose of regulating the action of the vibratcause the letter to be imprinted, the paper to be propelled far enough for thenextletter, and the detent cog-wheel P to be forced down so that the type-wheel-nlay return to its startingpoint, and again forced up to clutch the typewheel, and also cause each of these several things to be done at and in its proper time.

9. The arrangement of the armature'H, constructed of alternate plates of conducting and non-conducting metals, when combined with an electromagnet and used in connection with telegraphic instruments, for the purpose of securing'a more rapid vibration of such armature. 10. The arrangement of the coiled sprin g,

as described, about. the type-wheel. shaft T, such spring being set up to and held at a given tension, and such tension being increased only a certain amount by the fricti n, for the purpose of securingprompt action to such shaft, as described".

11. Generally, the arrangement and combination of the said several parts above de* scribed, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

EDMUND F. BARNES.

' Witnesses: 

